Australian lithium producer Liontown Limited, operator of the Kathleen Valley hard-rock project in Western Australia, entered Argentina's mining sector in September through the Centenario exploration project, located in Salta province.
By Panorama Minero
The move follows an agreement between Liontown and Next Lithium, the company currently conducting exploration at Centenario. The agreement establishes a staged farm-in structure under which Liontown can progressively increase its interest to ultimately acquire 100% of the lithium brine project.
Centenario covers 14,577 hectares in the Puna region of Salta. According to Next Lithium, it is one of the last large undeveloped lithium brine deposits in Argentina.
Under the transaction, Liontown will progressively acquire Vertex Holdings, a subsidiary of Next Lithium, through a staged structure. The initial agreement includes a payment of US$5 million in cash and US$10 million in Liontown shares, followed by an additional US$40 million in project funding over the next four years.
The Australian company will invest up to US$155 million and will subsequently have the option to acquire 100% of the project for a payment of up to US$195 million, subject to the achievement of certain development and resource milestones.
Liontown's entry into Centenario will therefore be progressive, allowing the company to assess results before proceeding with the full acquisition of the Next Lithium subsidiary that operates the asset.
“The Centenario Project is located in a highly prospective area geographically close to the Pozuelos-Pastos Grandes project (operated by Ganfeng Lithium and Lithium Argentina) and the Centenario-Ratones operation (operated by Eramet),” Liontown said in a statement.
Liontown's Kathleen Valley Project in Australia
The Kathleen Valley project, operated by Liontown, transitioned to fully underground operations after completing its open-pit development in the middle of the year. It began commercial operations in 2024 producing spodumene concentrate and is currently undergoing its production ramp-up.
According to Liontown, the project is expected to reach production of 500,000 tonnes per year of spodumene concentrate grading 6% lithium oxide, equivalent to approximately 63,000 tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) annually. Liontown's expansion plan could increase production to as much as 88,000 tonnes of LCE per year.
Liontown's entry into Argentina involved Nicholson y Cano, an Argentine law firm with practices in energy, natural resources and mining, which acted as Liontown Limited's local legal adviser on the farm-in agreement with Next Lithium Corp.
The Nicholson y Cano team included Juan Biset, head of the firm's mining practice, together with Nicolás Perkins, Diego Caride, Fernando Caruso and Sofía Ravenna.
Allens Law Firm acted as Liontown's Australian legal adviser. Its team included Alexander Ninkov, Richard Malcolmson, David Gray, Jesse Lines, Lennard Bremer and Saleem Al Odeh.
